Here at Muscular Moving Men, our employees do even lift. It’s important to be a good citizen at the gym. Chances are, if you’ve gone to work out at a fitness center, you’ve encountered some characters and developed some pet peeves in addition to developing muscle tone. Everyone should feel good about going to the gym, so here are some tips to make the experience better for everyone:

Stay home if you’re sick – If you’re feeling a bit under the weather, you might be able to convince yourself that you’re well enough to get a workout in or that working out could make you feel better. However, you’re doing everyone else at the gym a disservice since you risk getting them sick too. Just stay at home until you’re better! If you must get the blood pumping, do some jumping jacks at home, then get some rest and drink plenty of fluids.

Follow cardio machine time limits – If your gym has time limits on their cardio machines, be sure to follow them. If you ignore the time limits, then you could be making someone else wait longer to use the cardio machine, which simply isn’t fair. Even where there aren’t time limits, if someone is waiting, be mindful and wrap it up in a reasonable amount of time.

Don’t go around giving unsolicited advice – If someone asks you for advice, fantastic! Feel free to give it to them. But don’t walk up to someone you don’t know and try to tell them what to do. If you see someone who might be risking an injury to themselves, then flag down a qualified trainer instead.

Put your bag in a locker – Don’t leave your gym bag on the ground, where it becomes a tripping hazard and makes it hard for other people to reach their stuff.

Don’t block the weight rack – When you’re performing weight lifting exercises, make sure that you’re not standing right in front of the weight rack so that others have trouble accessing it.

Reset the weights – You worked hard to be able to bench all that weight, but no one wants to work hard to put your weights away when you’re done.

By practicing gym etiquette, you make the fitness center a welcoming place for people of all skill levels. Remember, everyone has different goals and different strengths. Staying active is an excellent, healthy choice. The more people who feel like they belong at the gym, the better.